Jeanne Newby
For decades, though, the Fair Acres Nursing Home stood alone on the spacious property. Before Fair Acres, it was known as the Jasper County Alms House.
We normally associate an Alms House as a poor house, but the Jasper County Alms House had a bit more character. It had been called the Jasper County Poor Farm, but with the name change came a new identity.
The Jasper County Poor Farm was established in 1875 on the old St. John family farm. The original farmhouse served as the poor house. Life there was pretty rough at time, such as on March 25, 1899, when the grand jury was summoned because of reports that conditions at the poor farm were deplorable. Improvements were begun immediately and continued over the next few years. There was a need to provide custodial care for the mentally ill patients as well as the indigent. Some mentally ill were turned away from the state asylum because their condition was deemed incurable.
George P. Williams, whose parents owned and operated the Delphus Theater on the south side of the Carthage, was an amateur photographer. He documented the conditions at the poor farm and showed his photos on the screen at the Delphus Theater.
The Women of Jasper County campaigned to get men to vote in favor of building a new Alms House. They also showed pictures of the poor farm at Hammond Hall and spared nothing in informing the public. It was stated that nothing would be left out except the stench.
Williams’ photos and the women’s advocacy were considered partly responsible for the February 1914 approval of a special tax levy to build the new Jasper County Alms House. Contractor Joseph McNerney and his brother, Martin McNerney, built it.
The Alms House became a place to help those in need. Folks came to just rest or heal from illness or surgery. Women came to give birth. Children without parents (orphans) found a home at the Alms House. Some folks were in bad shape and came to the Alms House to die. Many were in transit from one place to another and would hold over at the Alms House until they could gather funds to carry on.
The Alms House became the Fair Acres Nursing Home in 1951, with partial funding from the Jasper County Association for Social Services. Many of those in need in Jasper County took advantage of the county assistance at Fair Acres.
The nursing home was closed down in 1985 after the county judges decided the county was “going out of the business of running group-care homes,” including Elmhurst Nursing Home in Webb City. Fair Acres was demolished in 1993.
In May 1992, the Fair Acres Sports Complex was established, with the help of the Steadley Trust, and in 1994, the new Kent and Mary Steadley building became the home of the Carthage Family Y.
The Jasper County Alms House took care of people from all over Jasper County, including Joplin and Webb City – a step back into an uncomfortable, yet unforgettable era.
